Who is better, Player or Ball?
Gary Player leads with a GOAT score of 88.0 against 87.7 for John Ball — a gap of 0.3 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Player vs Ball
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Gary Player above John Ball: 88.0 vs 87.7. Gary Player leads on Longevity, Statistics, Honours. John Ball leads on Peak, Dominance.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
PlayerWinner
88.0Player wins: Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Ball
87.7Ball wins: Dominance, Peak
Candidates
Locked to GolfShareable URL · /compare/gary-player-vs-john-ball
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇿🇦 Gary Player
88.0
Player leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Gary Player
2. John Ball
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🏴 John Ball5 seasons played · career day 1,826235 wins
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇿🇦 Gary Player5 seasons played · career day 3,65114 wins
-94.0% vs Ball at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇿🇦 Player | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 🏴 Ball | 0 | 0 | 35 | 76 | 176 | 528 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | PlayerRetired | BallRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Major titles | 9 | — |
| Professional wins | 165 | — |
| Masters titles | 3 | — |
| Open Championships | 3 | 1 |
| Career Grand Slams | 1 | — |
| Senior major titles | 9 | — |
| Amateur Championships | — | 8 |
| Seasons in top competition | — | 34 |
| Match play titles | — | 9 |
| Top-5 Open finishes | — | 6 |
| Dominance w25% | 85 | 86 |
| Peak w20% | 88 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 94 | 90 |
| Honours w20% | 87 | 86 |
| Statistics w15% | 86 | 84 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Player88.0
Ball87.7
FAQ
Where does Ball beat Player?
Ball scores higher on peak, dominance. Player leads on honours, statistics, longevity.
How is the Player vs Ball score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Player: 88.0, Ball: 87.7.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Player vs Ball. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.